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There’s a good chance that Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s mother, Dawn, believed her son should stick with his information technology career and not put his focus on drifting, but she supported her son’s endeavors for decades. As a result, he realized his dream of becoming a successful driver and entrepreneur.
Mustang has the ability to make family bonds stronger by delivering fun experiences families can have together. -Laurie Transou, Ford Mustang Chief Engineer
For this Mother’s Day, Vaughn set out to thank his mom for her support, by teaching her how he gets sideways. Enabling that is the Performance Electronic Drift Braking feature that he and RTR Vehicles teammate Chelsea Denofa helped Ford develop and implement in the production 2024 Mustang.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. celebrated Mother’s Day a little early by showing off the 2024 Mustang’s Launch Control, Line Lock, and Performance Electronic Drift Brake to his mom, Dawn, as well as Ford Mustang chief engineer Laurie Transou and her daughter, Claire. (Photo Credit: Ford Motor Company)
Joining in on the Mother’s Day fun was Ford’s Mustang chief engineer Laurie Transou and her daughter, Claire. She was on hand to show just how easy it is to enable performance features like the Electronic Line Lock, Launch Control, and the new Performance Electronic Drift Brake.
“One of the greatest joys of motherhood is teaching our children, sharing new experiences with them, and watching them grow. Mustang has the ability to make family bonds stronger by delivering fun experiences families can have together,” said Laurie Transou, Mustang Chief Engineer for Ford, “Mustang has brought Vaughn together with his mom and me together with my daughter for an empowering and incredibly fun day!”
All 2024 Mustangs optioned with the Performance Pack come standard with the Performance Electronic Parking Brake, which Vaughn Gittin Jr. and his Formula Drift teammate Chelsea Denofa helped Ford develop. The electronic brake delivers three times as much braking force than a hydraulic brake, and the drifting duo helped engineers tune it to emulate the system employed on their competition drift machines.
Dawn and Claire learned how to quickly select those features via the new 13.2-inch touchscreen. Soon they enjoyed the thrill of slip-free acceleration, stationary burnouts, and getting sideways by yanking the drift stick. All of this made us eager to try these features — especially the Performance Electronic Drift Brake for ourselves — but that will have to wait for another day.
Vaughn exceeded the typical Mother’s Day flowers and dinner this year, and he has advice for all the Mustang moms out there: “Stay on the gas!”
